The present invention relates to an arrangement which is intended for displaceably supporting and guiding articles of furniture such as enclosed shelving systems, cabinets, cupboards and like articles, and which is of the kind which comprises a carriage which is equipped with runners and guide wheels and which is intended to be placed beneath the article of furniture concerned, and which further comprises at least two mutually parallel rails which are placed on the floor or like support surface for co-action with the carriage wheels and runners.
Such furniture carrying arrangements are used to enable available spaces to be used more effectively, inter alia in offices, libraries, office records locations, and storerooms, and may, for instance, have the form of rail mounted shelving-systems which can be moved between different positions on said rails, e.g. so-called compact shelving systems or compact storage systems.
One drawback with present day systems of this kind is, inter alia, that the work involved in fitting the rails to the floor of a building is relatively complicated and expensive. The reason for this is because the rails must either be sunk into the floor or the floor surface located between the rails must be built-up, so as not to prevent the passage, for instance of other wheeled carriages across the rails.
Rails which are left proud on the floor surface also present a stumbling hazard, since they can be readily tripped over or stumbled on. When a space between the rails is built up, e.g. with an intermediate floor section, it is necessary to fit ramps to the outer rails, so as to enable carriages to be moved across the rails, and also to eliminate the risk of stumbling over rails which are proud, i.e. protrude above the surface of the floor. The channels or recesses formed in the floor for accommodating the rails also form not-readily cleaned dirt or dust traps. This also applies to the guide tracks in the actual rails themselves when using rails of the kind normally required for the guide wheels of known arrangements.
A further drawback with known arrangements of this kind is that the rails used therewith cannot be adjusted heightwise, e.g. to compensate for irregularities in the floor surface. Instead, it is necessary to pack the rails with inserts or shims of suitable thickness, which among other things further complicates the task of fitting the rails to the floor and aligning the rails. The result also detracts from the desired aesthetic appearance and hence the aforesaid intermediate flooring is also utilized to hide the support surface.